JR Motorsports has released Tony Eury Jr. from his duties as crew chief for Danica Patrick and the No. 7 GoDaddy.com Nationwide Series team.

Eury was told Monday morning he was being replaced by Ryan Pemberton. Eury joined JRM after working as crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 Sprint Cup team at Hendrick Motorsports.

“They’re trying to fix the competition of the cars, “ Eury said. “They thought they could do better without me there. They hired Ryan and Ryan’s their guy.”

Patrick finished 12th at Chicagoland in the Nationwide Series on Saturday. She is currently 11th in the points standings.

Eury remains part of the ownership group of JRM.

“We’re still in discussions about that," he said.

As far as his relationship with his cousin Dale Earnhardt Jr., also a co-owner of the team, Eury said that, “Me and Dale Jr. are perfect. We’re fine.” Rick Hendrick and Kelley Earnhardt Miller are also team co-owners.

Eury, who started his career at Dale Earnhardt Inc. in 1991 then moved to Hendrick Motorsports in 2007, remains under contract with Hendrick. He joined JRM in 2009. Eury said he’d contemplate his future options “in due time.”

On Sept. 7, the team and competition director Tony Eury Sr. announced they were parting ways.

The following is a statement from Dale Earnhardt Jr., founder and owner of JR Motorsports, regarding the departure of crew chief Tony Eury Jr.:

“Unfortunately Tony Jr. is no longer with the company. I had hoped he would be here for a long time, but as we’ve discussed the direction of JR Motorsports moving forward, it was clear our differences in ideas were too vast to overcome. I love him like a brother, and you’ll never hear me say a bad thing about him. I know he’ll have much success in anything he does going forward. As for our No. 7 team, no decision has been made on who will crew chief that team this weekend at Kentucky Speedway. We will discuss our options and make a decision very soon.”

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe" - Friedrich Nietzsche

The painful evolution of JR Motorsports continued Monday when the Nationwide Series team parted ways with Tony Eury Jr., who in addition to being crew chief on Danica Patrick's No. 7 car was also a part-owner in the organization.

The move comes 10 days after JRM severed ties with Tony Eury Sr., the operation's competition director and a veteran crew chief within the organization. That change was made in an attempt to alter the direction of what was once among the top teams on the Nationwide tour but now hasn't won a race in two years.

"Unfortunately, Tony Jr. is no longer with the company," team co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. said in a statement. "I had hoped he would be here for a long time, but as we've discussed the direction of JR Motorsports moving forward, it was clear our differences in ideas were too vast to overcome. I love him like a brother, and you'll never hear me say a bad thing about him. I know he'll have much success in anything he does going forward. As for our No. 7 team, no decision has been made on who will crew chief that team this weekend at Kentucky Speedway. We will discuss our options and make a decision very soon."

Last week, JRM hired veteran crew chief Ryan Pemberton, who most recently oversaw Dave Blaney's car at Tommy Baldwin Racing and who won races at the Sprint Cup level with Joe Nemechek and Brian Vickers. Earnhardt said prior to last week's Chase opener at Chicagoland that Pemberton would fill a role similar to the one vacated by Eury Sr.'s departure.

Eury Jr. leaves the team despite being a co-owner of the organization along with Earnhardt Jr., Kelley Earnhardt Miller and Rick Hendrick. A three-time race winner at NASCAR's national levels, Eury has been on the box for all 51 of Patrick's Nationwide starts, including a fourth-place finish at Las Vegas last year that was the highest finish ever for a female driver in the sport's national division.

Nearing the end of her first full season on the Nationwide tour, Patrick stands 11th in points with a top finish of eighth, recorded at Texas in the spring. She finished 12th Saturday at Chicagoland in what proved her final race with Eury Jr. Patrick plans to move to Cup next season, when she will compete for Stewart-Haas Racing. Any Nationwide plans for next year have yet to be firmed up.

Patrick's teammate at JRM, rookie Cole Whitt, is seventh in points with 10 top-10 finishes this season. Although JRM has won nine times at the Nationwide level, the team hasn't scored a race victory since September 2010, when Cup regular Jamie McMurray prevailed at Atlanta driving the organization's No. 88 car.

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe" - Friedrich Nietzsche

michaeljohn wrote:it will be the first of many cc's that get fired because of danica. cuz god knows, it has nothing do with her goin on that 3 month crashing binge

that was a thought of mine as well, but upon further review.........When listening to her radio there were many times, he did or said things that didnt make to much sense to me. Not so much for the handling of the car. but other things.I can commend Kelly for making those tough choices. Getting rid of CC's that everyone likes for the better of a team. I am sure Rick had some influence in there but atleast Kelly pulled the trigger. Unlike some teams.

I'm not really one who feels qualified to discuss on here the relative merits of one crew chief over another. I can tell you this, though. This whole season on any in-car shot of her, I keep seeing her sawing, sawing, sawing back and forth on the steering wheel of her race car. It doesn't seem to matter whether its at the start of a race or near the end of a race. It doesn't take a genious to figure out that's an ill handling race car, and Tony didn't seem to be able to figure out how to fix that. I DO know this. Every time that steering wheel gets turned even a little bit, a tiny amout of speed is scrubbed off. Hopefully we'll see an improvement in this.

Personally i think there's more to the story than what's being said, and it all began with Tony Snr.leaving.I'm not going to argue the fact Tony Jr.isn't one of the best c/c's in the garage like his dad was,but i say it's all a snowball affect. Well,we've got seven races left to see if there is any change for either team.There's alot of questions unanswered to which we may never know,but it all smells fishy to me.Like rotten carp on a hot rock!

I was happy with this news. Personally, I wish she had a different crew chief in the Nationwide Series to begin with. Unfortunately with just 6 races left in the series, we will never really see how her and Pemberton mesh. He will make her more competitive.

I don't see her running much better the rest of the season. I think she was comfortable with Eury Jr and it will be hard for her the rest of the season. Maybe if they can get the handling a little better she'll get more out of these last few races.

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe" - Friedrich Nietzsche

Rochelle wrote:I don't see her running much better the rest of the season. I think she was comfortable with Eury Jr and it will be hard for her the rest of the season. Maybe if they can get the handling a little better she'll get more out of these last few races.

I Agree,but i also don't think she's ready for Cup just yet,moving her up next year is too soon.

Rochelle wrote:I don't see her running much better the rest of the season. I think she was comfortable with Eury Jr and it will be hard for her the rest of the season. Maybe if they can get the handling a little better she'll get more out of these last few races.

I Agree,but i also don't think she's ready for Cup just yet,moving her up next year is too soon.

I agree. Look at how Sam struggled in cup and he's just now starting to run better in NW. I would think she'd have a better chance in cup if she'd run another year in NW. But, I'm guessing it's out of her hands. Personally, I think she should stay in NW until she can run up front consistently. JMO

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe" - Friedrich Nietzsche